What needs to change? The over-representation of women, most ethnic minority groups and disabled people in low-paid, elementary occupations.

This is according to the January 2018 report (pdf) from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This paper sets out what needs to change and who needs to take action to reduce gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps.

The report finds:

Some elements of pay gaps result from the choices people make about balancing work with other aspects of their lives, though these choices may be dictated or constrained by stereotypes about the roles people, particularly women, are expected to play in society
Part-time work is predominantly low-paid work and therefore the choice to work flexibly inevitably leads to lower pay
The Welsh Government has set clear equality objectives to identify and reduce the causes of employment, skills and pay inequalities
In April 2017, the UK Government introduced gender pay gap reporting for private companies across Great Britain and for public bodies in England
The Scottish and Welsh Governments already required pay gap reporting by public bodies.
Read the full report (pdf).

The National Union of Students (NUS) is recruiting a Learning and Development Consultant on a permanent basis in either London, Macclesfield or home-based. Applications close on 20 February 2018.

The post-holder will project manage new initiatives to increase NUS’ Learning and Development Offering. They will also work with stakeholders to develop engaging and innovative learning materials and activities.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will receive its second reading in the House of Lords on 30 and 31 January. And the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) is ‘particularly concerned with the human rights implications of excluding the Charter of Fundamental Rights from retained EU law’.

This is from JCHR’s January 2018 report (pdf) which analyses the European Union Bill.

The report finds:

Some of the rights will inevitably be lost as they derive from membership of the EU
Charter rights which are based wholly or largely on “general principles of EU law” will no longer confer an enforceable right (although the Government may reconsider its position on this). This means a loss of enforceable rights such as Article 1 (human dignity)
A number of the Charter rights derive from the ECHR and are incorporated into domestic law by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998. Whilst these rights will therefore continue to exist and confer an enforceable right on individuals, the standing is narrower and the remedies are weaker under the HRA compared to the Charter.
Read the full report (pdf).